Chemistry
by Vengesim
Summary: Max Caulfield is a girl married to her camera. Chloe Price has had her heart trampled on one too many times. Neither one has any interest in dating. But when Warren convinces Chloe to sign on as Vice President of the Chemistry Club, fate intervenes.
1. Camera Girl and the Incident on the Lawn

"Well, that was a waste of a morning," Victoria said with a yawn as they walked back out onto the campus lawn.

"I don't know, I thought it was kind of interesting," Max said. Victoria paused and shook her head.

"It was world history Max. No one likes world history. Even Professor Yerts doesn't like world history, he's just forced to teach it so they'll fund his research trip to some Greek island no one's heard of, let alone cared about."

"Mykonos," Max muttered "I don't know, I think it's interesting. You can't understand art without understanding history."

"I'm not a TA, stop trying to suck up," Victoria said scathingly. Victoria said everything scathingly. They'd been friends for five years now, four in high school and one in college, so Max barely even noticed anymore.

"I wasn't…"

"Bored now," Victoria said, interrupting her. "Changing to a more interesting topic. There's a welcoming party at the end of the month for the photography majors. I'm hosting of course, you coming?" Victoria had been trying to get Max to a party, any party, since day one of high school. So far she'd failed utterly, Max didn't do parties. That hadn't stopped her yet though. Max would have found it endearing if it wasn't so annoying.

"Uhhh, I should probably work on my midterm project…"

"Max. It's a party for photography majors. We all have the same midterm project. You'll find, however, that everyone else will manage to show up somehow."

"Maybe I just take it more seriously than them."

"Or maybe you're just hopelessly anti-social and I'm getting tired of doing charity work hanging out with you. Seriously, live a little, for my sanity if nothing else. Show interest in something other than your fucking camera," Victoria said as they walked. It's why Max both loved and hated Victoria, she never held anything back. Max opened her mouth to say something in retort when she caught sight of her.

She was walking out of Young Hall flocked by a group of men. Though surrounded, she was obviously in complete control of the throng. She walked with a fluid ease, an uncaring, haphazard stride everyone else was struggling to match. Her blue hair was a perfect mess on her head and her smile was utterly contagious if Max's own lips were any indication. There was something on her arm as well.

"Earth to Max."

A tattoo? Yes, definitely a tattoo.

"Caulfield? Hello Caulfield."

But of what? Max couldn't quite make it out this far away.

"Instant photography is a dead medium kept alive by pretentious hipsters who can't do real art," Victoria said

"You think anything you're not good at is pretentious," Max said. "Who is that?" She asked, pointing at the girl as she slowly made her way towards them.

"Who?" Victoria asked.

"Her," Max said, pointing again.

"The attention whore with the blue hair?"

"Yeah."

"Don't know her. Let me see, semi-attractive girl coming out of the science building. Plus, she's got that 'I'm a punk with parental issues who just needs a good man to settle me down' thing going on. In a word, I'd say she's desperate."

"Don't be jealous Victoria," Max chided.

"Jealous? Give me one day and I could have every one of those science nerds eating out of my hand. Not that I'd want to. Let her have them. She's doing the world a service if you ask me."

"So she's a science major?

"That'd be my guess. What's it matter to you?" Victoria asked, but Max was lost in thought again. The girl had moved close enough now that Max could almost make out her tattoo. There was a skull, some flowers maybe, or was it a butterfly? Maybe both?

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Victoria muttered.

"Oh! Good idea," Max said. Victoria's eyes widened as Max pulled her Polaroid out of her bag.

"Sarcasm. That was sarcastic. This is not a good idea," Victoria whispered as Max pointed her camera at the girl.

"It's fine, she'll never notice in a crowd like this," Max said as she took aim. She focused on the girl's arm, trying to bring the tattoo in focus.

The flash was barely noticeable in the morning sun. The snap and whirl of motors wasn't terribly loud with all the background noise.

The blue haired girl stopped, her face scrunching in confusion. Then she turned and looked directly at Max.

Max stuffed the camera and photo into her bag as fast as she could. She turned and began swiftly walking across the lawn, making a conscious effort not to look back.

"Happy now?" Victoria hissed as she caught up to her.

"Okay, maybe not my smartest idea," Max admitted.

"You think? Why couldn't you just stare at her like a normal person?"

"I wasn't staring," Max huffed.

"Ooggling? Checking out? Undressing with your eyes? Which phrase do you prefer?" Max felt heat rush to her face. She definitely wasn't doing any of those things. She wasn't.

"I was just appreciating her style," Max explained.

"Right, appreciating , we'll go with that," Victoria said way too smugly. Max glared at her and walked faster.

"I'm a little surprised though," Victoria continued as she easily kept pace with her and her short stride. "I didn't think Max could appreciate anyone. You've never shown any interest before despite all of my advice. I thought you were asexual or something."

"I'm not showing interest," Max said hotly.

"And I'm not the best dressed girl on campus," Victoria said sarcastically.

"Drop it Victoria," Max said. Max didn't consider herself asexual, not that she'd ever given it much thought though. She just…never had time for dating or anything like that. Photography took precedence.

"O-kay," Victoria said. "Touchy much." Max didn't respond. They walked in silence for a couple moments before Victoria opened her mouth again.

"So...Max Caulfield is gay. Could you get any more stereotypical?"

* * *

Chloe heard the whirl of a Polaroid camera. It was a sound ingrained in her memory, her dad had loved his. He'd always been taking pictures of Chloe before…

Chloe looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Her eyes quickly found the culprit. She still had the camera in her hands. Chloe never paid much attention to hands, but that was the first thing she noticed about this girl. They looked so small, delicate like spun glass. Chloe felt an irrational desire to take those hands into her own, to keep them safe.

When the girl noticed Chloe looking at her, her eyes widened in surprise and a blush spread across her entire face. Chloe didn't know how she should respond. Wave? Get upset?

Before she could decide, the girl whipped around and started briskly walking in the opposite direction.

"Did that girl just take my picture?" Chloe asked, as she watched the brown-haired girl vanish into the crowds.

"Which girl?" Warren asked.

"Never mind," Chloe muttered. The fuck was that about? "What were you saying?" Chloe asked him. She'd lost track of the conversation. She hadn't been terribly interested to begin with, so it wasn't surprising.

"We were asking if you'd cosign for leadership of the Chemistry Club. We need a Vice President." Warren said. Around her, the rest of Warren's friends nodded along like bobble heads. They had about as much personality as bobble heads too, at least Warren talked to her like she was a real person and not just a pair of walking breasts.

"I'd say I spend enough time with chemistry in class, I don't need to hang out with it during my free time too," Chloe said. She started walking, and realized she was walking in the same direction camera girl went. Warren quickly moved in front of her. She resisted the urge to shove him over. He was her friend, he was just being unusually annoying today.

"Please Chloe, I just need a signature. You'd be Vice President in name only, you won't have to do a thing. You don't even have to show up if you don't want to," Warren pleaded.

"Why can't one of these idiots sign?" Chloe asked, flipping off the half a dozen boys listening in. They quickly backed away from her.

"Well, we were thinking that having your name on the roster might attract some more attention…" Chloe turned to Warren and got right in his face.

"You're whoring me out for a couple extra members? Is that what our friendship boils down to?" She asked, her voice positively frosty. To Warren's credit, he didn't back down.

"Who covered for you when you were making out with," he paused, glancing at the others listening in, "you-know-who in the janitors' closet? Who let you copy his homework whenever you were too drunk to finish the night before? Who…"

"I get it, I get it, fuck, I haven't done stuff like that since high school," Chloe said, backing away from him.

"Still," Warren said stiffly. Chloe muttered a 'fuck' under her breath. She hated to admit it but he had a point. Without Warren's help Chloe wasn't sure she would have made it through high school.

"I'll think about it," she said.

"I have to turn it in today," Warren said, holding up the sheet with a hopeful look.

"...fine, give me a damn pen," Chloe said, snatching the sheet from him.

"You won't regret this," Warren said gratefully as he handed her the pen.

"Oh, I already do," Chloe muttered as she signed her name.

* * *

"Who's your best friend?" Victoria asked as she suddenly appeared beside Max's table in the cafeteria. Max put down her book, slightly put off by the interruption. When she was little it had bothered her that no one wanted to have lunch with her. Now she'd not only gotten used to it, she kinda looked forward to it as well.

"I don't know, I'll tell you when I meet them," Max said and turned back to her book.

"You broke it," Victoria said as she sat down across from Max."I had one feeling left and you broke it into tiny pieces."

"What do you want Victoria?" Max asked without looking at her. It was rare for Victoria to bother her outside of class.

"Nope, I don't feel like sharing anymore," Victoria said as she took one of Max's french fries and shoved it into her mouth. Max sighed, it was obvious Victoria had something she wanted to say and she wasn't going to leave until she said it. And she wasn't going to say it until Max begged.

"You had the better urban portfolio last semester. There, I admitted it. Much better than being my best friend," Max said.

"You do know the way to my heart," Victoria said with a smile. "Okay, I have a name." Every fiber of Max's brain suddenly came alive. She dropped her book as she focused entirely on Victoria.

"What is it?"

"I just said a name, I didn't say who's," Victoria said, taking another fry. Instantly Max's face went a couple shades redder.

"Just tell me please," Max said with as much dignity as she had left.

"And what do I get out of it?" Victoria asked as she munched on Max's fry.

"I thought you were doing this out of a shared sense of friendship and comradery?"

"What? No! That had nothing to do with this. You know what I had to do to get this information? I had to talk to science nerds. Male science nerds. It was revolting," Victoria said with a shudder.

"It probably took all of two minutes," Max said as Victoria took yet another fry. At this rate she'd eat them all.

"Fine, if it's so easy you should have no problem getting the info yourself," Victoria said as she stood up.

"Wait!" Max called. Victoria looked down at her, her face expectant. "Fine, I'll do your Stat homework," Max said, desperation melting away all her pride. Victoria stared at her as she slowly ate her stolen fry.

"For a week," she said finally.

"What?! That's cra…" Max started, but then Victoria turned away from her. "Okay, I'll do it!" Max called out. Instantly Victoria whipped around and sat back down.

"I thought you'd see things my way. Chloe Price," she said. The name shot through Max's mind.

"Chloe Price. Chloe…Price…" She said, trying it out. She liked it.

"You going to eat these?" Victoria asked, pointing at the rest of her fries. Max shoved them over, too happy to even care.

* * *

Max tried to concentrate on the words in front of her face. Usually photo theory was enough to keep her interest, but tonight it was failing horribly. She read the words, but her mind didn't process them at all. The only words her mind seemed capable of handling were Chloe and Price.

Max groaned and threw her book onto the bed behind her. She wasn't getting that chapter finished tonight. It was fine, it wasn't due until next week anyway. Max drummed her fingers on her desk, trying to think of what to do. It was no good though, nothing sounded enticing. She glanced over at the photo on her desk, Chloe Price caught perfectly mid stride, her tattooed arm held up as she ran a hand through her hair.

She felt miserable. Her heart felt like it was twice as big the way it was pounding in her chest, her stomach felt nauseous, and she had this nervous energy that wouldn't let her sit still. If this was what crushes felt like then she could have gone the rest of her life without them. This fucking sucked.

Her fingers stopped. Crush? She'd just called it a crush. Was that what it was? She'd made it until college, she thought she was immune to this kind of thing. And a girl? Max definitely hadn't seen that coming. Max leaned into her hands and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her head. No good, she couldn't get the name Chloe Price or a head of blue hair out of her mind. Pull yourself together Max, you just think she's cute or something. You don't know anything about her. Spend ten minutes with the girl and you'll probably get over it. Plus, you saw that crowd of guys around her, there's no way she's interested in you.

Max perked up, a thought striking her. That was it. She had to learn more about this Chloe girl. The more she knew the quicker she could get over this stupid crush and on with the rest of her life.

Max pulled over her laptop and powered it on. She had a name and a location, she should be able to find something. She started by Googling Chloe Price. As she figured, that was way too vague. There were quite a few Chloe Prices and none of them had blue hair. She tried Chloe Price UCLA and got nothing concrete. She tried Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter. She tried chloe price, chloeprice, and C Price. Nothing.

Finally, after an hour of futile searching she slammed her laptop shut. This was getting her nowhere. She'd never tried to do this kind of thing before. Suddenly she a thought struck her. She'd never done this before, but she knew someone who had. She grabbed her Stat book and got to work.

* * *

"So what's up Chloe?" Kate asked as they sat down at the Cafe table. It was 6:30 in the morning. On a Tuesday. If you'd told Chloe a year ago she'd voluntarily be awake at 6 in the morning she would have laughed in your face. But now Kate and her were in college with different majors and morning tea time was about the only time they could talk. She missed talking to Kate enough to make the sacrifice.

"Warren convinced me to sign up for his stupid club. He's trying to save it from extinction. Who even cares?" Chloe said as she mixed some cream into her coffee. It might be Kate's tea time, but Chloe was a coffee girl.

"Warren obviously," Kate said simply as she mixed a sugar cube into her tea.

"...Yeah I suppose so," Chloe admitted.

"You're a good friend Chloe," Kate said as she blew on her tea.

"Don't spread that around, I have enough friends as it is. Look where that's got me, Vice President of the Chemistry Club and out of my warm and cozy bed. So how'd the presentation go?"

"Pretty good. People liked my drawings," Kate said with a smile. Chloe looked up at her.

"Anyone give you any trouble?" She asked. Kate liked to put simple religious messages in her children's illustrations. Sometimes people thought it was okay to make fun of her because of that. In high school, Chloe had politely informed those people that that wasn't the case. It had landed her in the principal's office on more than one occasion. It was harder to do that in college though.

"Well, one girl did say putting religious messages in a children's book was the same as brainwashing," Kate said with a shrug.

"Bitch, sorry about that," Chloe said. Chloe didn't really believe in any big guy in the sky. The closest she'd ever gotten to church was listening to country songs with her dad. And he went and died so Chloe wasn't on speaking terms with any God that'd be okay with that.

She respected Kate's faith though. As far as she was concerned, Kate was the biggest punk rebel she knew. She was openly religious on a college campus on the West Coast. That took stones.

"It's fine, I know my stories aren't for everyone. So what else is on your mind?" Kate asked, staring intently at Chloe over her tea cup. How does she always know?

"Do you know any of the photography majors?" Chloe asked. Kate looked surprised at the random question.

"I'm in illustration so we don't have many classes together. Just the core ones and those are in huge lecture halls with a hundred students. Why?"

"Nothing, just, I think a girl took my picture yesterday," Chloe said quickly before slurping her coffee.

"Was she cute?" Kate asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean but…" Chloe stopped as she noticed the smile on Kate's lips and realized where this question was going. Kate was one of the few people on campus who knew Chloe wasn't straight. Chloe wasn't ashamed of it, she was a firm believer in not giving a damn about what others thought, but she didn't want to attract attention. If everyone thought she was straight, then only the guys would ask her out. She had no problem turning them down, she wasn't interested in trying that again. But ever since the whole Rachel thing, she had no interest in dating. She wasn't sure she could survive any more heartbreak.

"I already told you. I'm going to be your single spinster friend who sends you postcards from places you'll never go because you're too busy settling down and having a boring family," Chloe said firmly.

"No man, or woman for that matter, is an island Chloe," Kate said with a delicate sip of tea. Everything sounded like sage advice if you sipped tea right afterward. It's part of what made conversations with Kate dangerous.

"This island is doing just fine," Chloe said as she drained the rest of her coffee.

"I just don't want you to give up, there's someone out there for you," Kate said.

"Well, if you ever decide to bat for the other team let me know," Chloe said. Kate lifted one small hand up to her face and started giggling. Then she looked over at Chloe, her eyes shining, and Chloe could swear she batted her eyelashes.

"Don't worry Chloe, if I ever decide I like girls, you'll be the first to know." And then she winked. Well. Chloe thought. Fuck me.

* * *

As soon as morning's World History class was over, Max walked over to Victoria and slammed a USB on her desk.

"What's this?" Victoria asked.

"This week's Stat homework."

"All of it?" Max nodded. "Fuck, you don't mess around," Victoria said as she reached for the USB. Max pulled it away.

"Not so fast," Max said. "I need help with something else."

"That wasn't part of the deal," Victoria said, annoyed.

"You gave me one name, I did all your week's homework. That isn't equivalent exchange!"

"Yeah, but because you did it I'll be lucky if that homework gets a B," Victoria countered. She had a point.

"Still, I think you owe me a little more," Max said, her eyes desperate. Victoria sighed.

"What is it?" She asked. Max pulled out her laptop and opened it up.

"I need your help finding out more about Chloe," Max said as she pulled up her Facebook. "I tried last night but couldn't find a thing."

"Just give it here," Victoria said with a sigh, taking Max's laptop. She took one look at the screen and shook her head sadly. "No wonder you couldn't find her. You have, like, five friends."

"Seventeen," Max said stiffly.

"Family doesn't count," Victoria said. Max did a quick head count. There were her parents, an aunt, two uncles, some cousins…fuck.

"Fine, just do your…thing," Max said with a wave at the computer.

"She's probably got it so only friends of friends can see her. Let me see what I can do…" Victoria said and got to work. Max sat and waited as Victoria typed away with record speed. Finally, after half an hour had passed, Victoria sniffed in disgust.

"Okay, either she doesn't have a social media presence at all, which, what's the likelihood of that, or she's got her profile locked down tight. Which also seems crazy. I mean, it's 2015 and you're in college, how else are you supposed to network? I barely know her and she's pissing me off already."

"You're just mad because you couldn't find anything either," Max said, feeling irrationally disappointed in Victoria.

"Who said I didn't find anything?" Victoria said with a small smile. Max's heart leaped back into her throat and she ran around to look at the laptop screen.

"She's Vice President of the chemistry club," Victoria said proudly.

"Chemistry club?"

"Says so right here on their Facebook page. Chloe P. Vice president," Victoria said as she pointed at the club info page. There it was, right below Warren G. President.

"Why didn't I think to search Chloe P?" Max muttered to herself.

"It's a good thing you got in on that photography scholarship, Lord knows it wasn't on brains," Victoria said, laughing at her own joke.

"Give it here," Max said as she quickly skimmed over the rest of the club info. Her eyes widened.

"I'm going to join the Chem club," she said suddenly.

"You're not a chemistry major," Victoria pointed out.

"You don't have to be," Max said." Says so right on the page."

"You have no interest in chemistry," Victoria continued.

"Sure I do! We use chemicals in the dark room all the time. My Polaroid runs off chemical reactions. I love Chemistry." Victoria stared at her for a moment.

"You know, I was curious what a love struck Max would look like. Turns out it's nauseating."


	2. An out-of-town-meddler

The phone rung in the early morning sun. Chloe Price was awake, but she definitely wasn't functioning yet. She picked the phone up, expecting it to be Kate, the only person she could think of who would be willingly awake at this ungodly hour. It wasn't.

"Fuck," Chloe breathed as she looked at the name. Rachel Amber. All her wariness drained from her as a nauseating mixture of giddiness and pure dread flooded her system. Her finger raised to her phone screen, hovering there a moment as she tried to get some measure of control over herself. Finally she answered.

"H-hey Rach, what's up?" Chloe said, trying her best to sound like a normal human being and not whatever it was she felt like right now. It took Chloe a second to process what Rachel was saying, all she could concentrate on was how much she missed her voice.

"Oh! Good, good, still doing the chemistry thing. You?" Chloe said as she sat up and tried to pay attention to what Rachel was saying.

"Yeah? That's awesome! Good for…Tonight? No I'm not, oh wait I got this thing for Warren…Fuck no, gross. No it's just...Yeah, yeah I could cancel. I didn't want to go anyway so you'd be saving me. What were you? Oh. Oh, okay. No, it's not a problem. Yeah, I could do that. Yeah, it'd be cool. Yeah okay, have fun. Yeah. I'll see you later." Chloe said as she hung up the phone and let it drop to the mattress.

"Fuck, why don't you say yeah one more time?" Chloe muttered darkly before collapsing back onto her bed, completely drained. What a fan-fucking-tastic way to start a day. _Why did I give up smoking weed again?_ Chloe thought. Then she groaned. _Because it reminds me of Rachel. Fuck!_

* * *

Max looked closely at herself in the mirror. It wasn't something she did often. It wasn't because she was confident in her looks, quite the opposite in fact. No matter how much effort she put into herself she was always disappointed. If the outcome was always the same, she didn't see the point in wasting the time. She always made herself look presentable, but she didn't go any farther than that.

Staring hard at her reflection, Max decided she looked as unexciting as always. Her eyes weren't the shade of blue people wrote songs about, they were too washed out for that. Her nose was slightly too large. Her chin was too pointed, making her face look small. Her mess of hair didn't help that impression. Max sighed. Well, the good thing was she didn't think she could make it much worse.

She opened up her toiletries bag and dug through it. Some of the stuff was easy to find, she did use some makeup occasionally, but others hadn't seen the light of day since she'd put them in her bag. She laid them all out on the counter before her, an arcane array of brushes, vials, and flasks. There were things here she only understood the concept of, aware of their intended outcome but clueless how to get there.

"Okay," she told the woman in the mirror. "You got this." She picked up the first brush, said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening, and got to work.

* * *

An hour later, with a face she wasn't at all confident in, Max walked into the university book store just fifteen minutes after it opened. Despite being at college for a year now, she'd never actually stepped foot into the physical college bookstore. She always just ordered her textbooks from Amazon or Ebay, but she couldn't do that when she didn't know what textbook she needed to get.

There was no one managing the front desk that Max could see when she reached the counter. Max leaned forward and peered over the desk but didn't spy anyone hiding behind it. She glanced up and saw some posters tacked up on the wall. A flashy one with a pretty painting of an armored woman holding a sword caught her eye. She stood in front of a huge, horned monster and the caption "DnD Club! Come slay your demons." was sprawled beside her. Max was so lost in staring at the poster she didn't even hear the girl walk up behind her.

"Hello! What can I do you for?" The girl said loudly, causing Max to instinctively jump and curl in on herself.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the girl said with a laugh. Max pressed her hand to her heart as she looked the girl over. She had straight brown hair down to her neck and strong features that made her look far more confident than Max had ever felt.

"N-no problem," Max managed to get out. The girl smiled at her and then walked around the counter to stand behind the desk.

"So what were you here for?" She asked.

"Oh! Uh...I need a chem book."

"Know which one?" The girl asked with another smile. It wasn't a mocking smile, it was more of the amused variety, as if Max's very existence was funny for some reason.

"An...intro chem book?"

"Okay, getting closer. Intro for cross discipline or intro for a chem major?"

"Chem major?"

"Okay, so you're in Dr. Weinstein's class? Sound right?" The girl said, sounding pleased with herself.

"Oh, I'm not...in a chem class. It's for, uh, personal study," Max said lamely. Who studied chemistry for fun?

"Oh, hardcore," the girl said with more adoration than Max thought she deserved. "I know just the thing," she said happily and dashed down one of the aisles, leaving Max to once again stand awkwardly by the empty desk. In moments, however, she was back with a fairly large tome. She slammed it down on the desk.

"This look right?" Max glanced at the book. _Introduction to Basic Chemistry._

"That should work," Max said.

"Okay, that'll be two hundred and thirty dollars," the girl said cheerfully. Max froze. Over two hundred dollars? She knew science textbooks were expensive but that was…

No matter, she'd just use it to take some notes and then she'd return it. Or sell it on Ebay. Max handed her card over and the girl swiped it and threw her book in a bag before handing it to her.

"Well, have fun with your personal study," she said.

"Thank you," Max said and quickly took her bag and started towards the exit.

"Oh wait!" The girl called out suddenly, causing Max to jump yet again. She ran over to Max and pointed towards the poster Max had been admiring earlier. "I got this DnD club if you're interested."

"I'm not, uh, I've never played and I don't have a lot of time, plus groups aren't really my…"

"It's not a big group, I'm pretty selective. And we love teaching newbies," the girl interrupted. Max gave her a confused look.

"Selective?" She asked. How was she selective if she asked random strangers?

"I don't invite just anyone who waltzes in here. You're hardcore and you seemed interested in the poster earlier. Plus you're cute, so, that always gets a pass," the girl said with a smile that bordered on suggestive. Instinctively Max's face began to burn.

"Ill...keep that in mind," Max said as she took a step back from her.

"Okay! I'll catch you later Max," she said.

"How did…"

"It's on your card," she said with a wink. "My name's Steph by the way. If you change your mind you know where to find me, I'm here most mornings. Good luck!"

Max stood there a moment as Steph raced back towards her desk. She'd been hit on before, but never by a woman, and certainly not by someone so...confident. From behind the desk Steph arched an eyebrow at her and Max realized she still hadn't moved. With a jolt she turned and raced towards the door.

* * *

"Hey Warren, I'm probably not going to make call-out," Chloe said as she walked up to Warren after class.

"What, why?" Warren asked, pausing from gathering his things off his desk. Warren had more notebooks for this one class than Chloe owned. She'd always had a good memory, though, so she'd never been a great note taker.

"Hey, you said I didn't have any responsibilities. Pretty sure you said I didn't have to go to a single meeting," Chloe said.

"Well yeah, but…"

"So I'm not showing up to this one. Be happy I bothered to tell you."

"That's true…"

"So what's the problem?"

"I was really hoping you could make callouts," Warren said in a rush. "If people see you there they'd be more likely to join the club."

"Too bad, can't make it. Guess you'll have to get another glamor model to whore out. Ask Brooke."

"I did and she's coming too, but I wanted to maximize my chances," Warren said without a hint of shame.

"You're a pig you know that?"

"It's a compliment, it shows how charismatic I think you both are," Warren said as he shoved the rest of his things in his bag. The two turned to walk out of the classroom.

"You're the embodiment of the internet Warren," Chloe said finally.

"Thank you."

"That's not a compliment."

"Come," Warren pleaded.

"No."

"Why not?"

"None of your business," Chloe said with a touch more heat than she meant to. Warren paused as they reached the classroom door and gave her a searching look.

"Fuck Chloe, are you meeting Rachel again?" _Fuck, why does everyone keep reading me like a fucking book!_

"No, I'm not…"

"You know that's a terrible idea. Every time you hang out with Rachel you're a mopey, emotional bitch the next day."

"Hey, first off, that's not true."

"It is."

"Second off, I'm not seeing Rachel."

"Sure, and I don't…"

"I'm not, okay!" Chloe yelled just as she realized they'd gathered a small crowd by blocking the only exit to the classroom. Chloe grunted in frustration and marched out, ignoring the looks she was getting.

"Then what is it?" Warren asked as he caught up to her.

"I'm...house sitting," Chloe said, not looking at Warren or slowing down.

"House sitting?"

"Like, letting out the dog and shit, I don't know," Chloe muttered, annoyed that he was keeping pace with her so easily.

"Whose house? Who's dog?" Chloe continued walking, ignoring the question. Warren stopped in his tracks. "Oh, you are shitting me. You're blowing me off to hang out with Rachel's dog?!" Chloe stopped and turned to face him

"I'm doing a favor for a friend!" She said.

"I asked you to do a favor first!" Warren countered.

"I did your favor! I signed the damn paper, you didn't say anything about going to a call-out."

"Okay, fine, don't go to the call-out. But don't do a favor for _Rachel Amber_ ," Warren said, saying her name like it was a particularly dirty curse word.

"She's my friend Warren," Chloe said through clinched teeth. She was two seconds away from clocking him in his stupid nerd face. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"Yeah? What's the last favor she's done for you?"

"She's busy right now," Chloe said.

"So are you." Chloe shook her head.

"She was there for me Warren, when no one else was. She's the first person who gave a shit about me. I owe her everything."

"She was your first friend, but not your last. And as your _friend_ , I don't like to see you get used," Warren said.

"Then what the fuck do you call your call-out then?"

"Friendly guilt," Warren said confidently. "The difference is, I still like you with even when you aren't doing things for me. You do what you want Chloe. I'll see you tomorrow," he said and turned away from her.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me," Victoria said as she walked up to Max's lunch table for the second day in a row. Max really needed to find a different place to eat if this was going to keep being a thing. Max's first instinct was to close the book and try to hide it, but she resisted the reflex. There was no shame in being excited about a new club.

"I'm just doing some research for tonight," Max said primly as she flipped the page over in her new chem textbook.

"You bought a textbook for a club?" Victoria asked as she sat down. At least this time she'd brought her own food Max noticed with relief. She actually wanted to eat her lunch this time.

"Just refreshing myself, I haven't taken chemistry in four years."

"I say again, you _bought_ a textbook? Do you not know what the internet is?"

"I wanted the same textbook the chem majors are using. I want to make sure I'm on the same footing."

"What about the library?" Victoria asked with an arc of her eyebrow. _Fuck._ Max hadn't thought of that.

"I might want to highlight stuff," Max said lamely. Victoria gave her a disappointed look.

"Since when do you highlight stuff? I've never seen you take notes on anything," she said as she opened up the wrapping around her sandwich.

"I always bring notebooks to class!"

"Which you fill with doodles and photo ideas, and maybe the occasional quote," Victoria said with a bored voice as she started taking small bites off her sandwich. Max just shook her head, choosing not answer because she didn't need to defend herself to Victoria, and not because she didn't have a comeback.

"Holy fuck, you're wearing eyeliner," Victoria said suddenly. Max's heart sank. She'd been so focused on her chem book she'd entirely forgotten the morning's failed adventure.

"I put on eyeliner all the time," Max said without meeting Victoria's gaze.

"And eye shadow. Is that blush?" Victoria continued, ignoring Max.

"I wear makeup!" Max said, exasperated.

"No you don't and it shows. You look terrible," Victoria said simply.

"Like you're an expert," Max said darkly. It was days like this that Max regretted ever talking to Victoria freshmen year. Life had been so much easier when they hated each other in middle school.

Victoria's facial expression didn't change, she just looked at Max. Max looked back, but beneath Victoria's perfectly eyeshadowed gaze Max's pride wilted away. She collapsed, her face falling into her arms.

"Please Victoria," Max said, her voice muffled by her arms.

"Please what?" Victoria said as she took a nibble from her sandwich.

"Please fix my makeup," came Max's muffled reply. Victoria looked down at Max and sighed.

"Let me finish my sandwich. Then we'll go to the bathroom and I'll see what I can do."

* * *

She'd shown up late. That had definitely not been her plan. She showed up to things on time. Because the sooner you showed up to things, the sooner you could leave them. That'd always been her thinking at least.

Victoria had vetoed that idea.

"When are you going?"

"Flyer says five, so 4:55?"

"No, 5:20 at the earliest. I swear, you're like talking to a two year old."

"But it's a callout, I don't want to miss the presentation."

"This is college. No one starts their presentation on time. No one would be there."

"Maybe if everyone started showing up on time…"

"Good luck starting that trend."

"But maybe if I showed up early I could talk with Chloe before it starts."

"...Did you look at your future girlfriend? Does she look the type to show up early?"

"She's not my girlfriend...and that's stereotyping."

"It's not stereotyping if it's true."

"I'm not sure that…"

"So if you show up early it'll just be you and a room of lonely men for forty minutes."

"Uh…"

"Do you want to spend forty minutes fighting off desperately lonely nerds?"

"Maybe 5:20 then…"

Max hated to admit it, and she never would out loud, but Victoria had probably been right. Max didn't think that all science majors were nerds and desperately lonely. That didn't change the fact that, as she walked into the classroom, Max only spotted guys. Guys who all turned to look at her. And some of them kept looking at her for a time that could only be described as 'uncomfortable.'

Max stood at the door, wondering if it was too late to bolt and undo one of her bigger mistakes, when one of the guys jumped off of the desk he was sitting at and moved towards her.

"Hey! Are you here for the Chem club call-out?" He asked her as he approached. He gave her a smile that was actually more friendly than anything so she relaxed somewhat.

"Uh, yeah, is this the right place?" She asked even though she was 100% certain it was. She'd checked it out earlier in the day so she didn't make any mistakes.

"Most certainly, come on in, we're going to get started in just a few. My name's Warren by the way," Warren said as he turned and beckoned her in. Max took a deep breath. Too late to turn back now. She stepped in. It wasn't as big as a lecture hall, but it was bigger than most of the classrooms Max used. It was lined with rows of desks, many of which had been pushed to the back to make more room at the front where a large projector was set up on a whiteboard. Students gathered around the room in small clumps. To Max, they all seemed like they were whispering about her, the lone outcast in a room of people who all seemed to know one another.

Looking around, she realized she wasn't the only girl. There were a couple spread around the room, but all of them looked like they had friends in the club. At least they looked far more comfortable than she did. And none of them were Chloe Price. Another thing Victoria had been right about.

Warren gestured towards her, inviting her to his group. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Sure, standing alone in a crowded room made her feel stupid and unwanted, but at least she only _felt_ like that. Whenever she actually joined a group she usually ended up _being_ stupid and unwanted and Warren's group was the largest in the classroom. He must be the popular nerd or something.

Max cringed, that thought had been harsher than had she meant it. She'd been hanging out with Victoria too much lately.

Max politely waved at Warren and then started wandering across the classroom, beelining for the wall. She could practically feel Victoria roll her eyes at her and mutter 'stereotypical' but she didn't care. She'd came, which was a big step for her.

As she made her way to the wall she stopped. Someone who was already leaning on it. A girl, standing by herself and fiddling with her phone. She had dark black hair with a purple streak through it and a dark hoodie with the words "Han shot first" emblazoned on it. Max paused. On one hand she really didn't look like she wanted to talk. At all. On the other hand, she _was_ by herself and that presented an opportunity. She'd come here to learn more about Chloe. She could handle a one-on-one. Probably.

"Hi," Max said to the girl as she walked up.

"I'm just here for the call-out, I'm not a member so if you have questions you're barking up the wrong tree," the girl said with a bored voice. She didn't look up from her phone. Max frowned, but was actually strangely comforted by the girl's straight-forward manner. Empty, happy words and small talk filled with air were completely foreign to her, but snark and blunt truth? That she was used to.

"Oh, I was just saying hi?" Max said. The girl blinked and looked up at her.

"Hi, Brooke sorry," she managed before turning back to her phone.

"Max," Max replied before walking over to lean on the wall beside Brooke. If she had an opinion about Max's intrusion, she didn't give any indication. "So...why did you come for just the call out?"

"A favor for Warren. He's the president over there," Brooke said with a wave at Warren. _So that explains the big crowd._

"Oh," Max said. _If she's friends with Warren, what is she doing over here by herself?_

"So, you a chemistry major? Don't recognize you," Brooke said, interrupting Max's thoughts.

"No, photography."

"Why are you here? Free pizza?" Brooke asked neutrally.

"No, uh, one of my…friends was coming here I thought. Chloe?" Brooke's fingers froze on her screen and she turned to look at Max. Max took an involuntary step back as Brooke's full attention bared down on her, her eyes driving straight into her soul.

"You're friends with Chloe?" Brooke asked. Max knew she'd fucked up. She'd just meant to get some information, she'd never guessed that Brooke would know Chloe personally, and it sure seemed like she did. _Great Max, and now she's going to tell Chloe about the crazy girl who was claiming to be her friend. Great first impression. Or second impression if she recognizes you from the lawn. You're going to be thrown into the stalker category before you even say a word to her!_

"Kind of?" Max said, desperately trying to backpedal before it was too late.

"Well, she must not have told you, go figure, but she isn't coming," Brooke said darkly. _Okay, okay, so she knows Chloe but doesn't like her._ Max thought with relief. If she didn't like Chloe she wasn't likely to talk to her. Maybe this wasn't a complete disaster.

"Oh, I didn't tell her or anything, I just thought I'd run into her here," Max said, a little amused about how true that statement was.

"I doubt she'll ever come," Brooke said. Max blinked rapidly as she processed that. She wasn't coming? If she didn't come then the whole plan was ruined!

"Why wouldn't she come?" Max asked. She must have asked it more desperately than she thought judging by the confused look Brooke gave her.

"Because Chloe Price doesn't do shit for anyone unless your name is Rachel Amber," Brooke said darkly.

"Rachel Amber?" I ask. _Oh shit, does she already have a girlfriend? Am I obsessing over someone else's girl? And why am I so relieved that at least she might be gay?_

"You know Chloe and you don't know Rachel?"

"I barely know her, just seen her around campus."

"Oh, that explains it. They haven't been talking as much since Chloe started college."

"That sounds hopeful," Max said.

"What?" Brooke asked. Max froze. Did she say that out loud?

"I should probably talk to Warren now!" Max said too loudly. "I talked to him earlier, but didn't realize he was the president."

"...Right," Brooke said before turning back to her phone as Max quickly walked back across the room towards Warren.

The good news was now she had a lot more information to work with. The bad news was Brooke thought she was crazy and she didn't know anyone else in this club. It could be worse she supposed. That was a given, it could _always_ be worse.

Before she could get back to talk to Warren, he suddenly started walking towards the front of the room. He reached the white board and picked up a remote and touched it, turning on the projector.

Instantly a large picture of a white cat wearing glasses lit up the white board. Across the cat was written the words 'I blew up my chemistry reaction. Oxidants happen.' A couple of chuckles filtered through the room, but most people groaned as everyone turned towards Warren.

"Want to hear a Nitric Oxide joke?" Warren asked.

"No!" Someone shouted from the crowd, which earned a few more chuckles. Everyone was moving closer to Warren, but Max held back, staying near the door.

"As most of you know, my name is Warren," Warren continued.

"Don't be too humble," Max heard Brooke call out. There were a lot of laughs at that one and Max started to realize how much of an outside she really was. She didn't even understand most of those jokes.

"As the humble President of Chemistry Club, I'd like to thank all of you for coming. As most of you know, Chloe Price will be acting Vice President, but she couldn't make it tonight," Warren said as he hit his remote and moved to the next slide. Max took a step towards the door, realizing this was a mistake. Chloe wasn't coming, she'd made an idiot of herself with Brooke, and everyone here seemed to buddy buddy. Glancing around and content that no one was looking her way, she turned and walked out the door.

And then collided with something as she left the classroom. Something soft, yet solid. Something that smelled like cigarettes and a slight floral deodorant. It wasn't exactly a pleasant smell, but it was memorable.

"I'm sorry…" Max began as she realized she'd ran into a person.

"It's fine, not a big deal," the girl replied. Max opened her mouth to respond, but then words failed her. It was Chloe Price. She'd just ran into Chloe Price.

Logically, Max knew this was exactly what she wanted. She was face to face with Chloe, and better yet, they were even alone. All she had to do now was say hello and 'My name is Max' and it would be mission accomplished.

But she couldn't. Her throat had gone completely dry and her tongue felt like it was glued to the top of her mouth. Her heart was doing a salsa in her chest, the lights felt too bright, there was a soft buzzing in her ear, her face felt oily-nothing was working. She felt like she was in her freshmen year of high school all over again, giving her first speech in com class, only this time she was having a heart attack at the same time.

At least she thought it was a heart attack. It felt like one. When was the last time she'd taken a breath? Too long ago she was pretty sure. And wasn't Chloe awfully close? Way too close, it made Max's whole body tingle.

Max didn't know how long she just stood there, staring at Chloe, but it was long enough that Chloe started looking concerned.

"Hey, are you al…" Chloe paused as recognition dawned on her face. "Wait! You're Polaroid girl! You took my picture on the lawn yesterday. What was that?" Max's higher brain functions simply stopped working. Base instinct kicked in as adrenaline flooded her body. She was a rabbit and Chloe was a lean, blue-haired wolf backing her into a corner.

"I'm sorry!" Max yelped. She flung her hands out, forcing Chloe back. Then she took off running down the hallway.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for everyone who showed interest in the last chapter! You're all amazing and I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.**


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